Power Wheels Magazine A Notch Above
In line with the initiative to address traffic woes in the metropolis, the Inter-agency Council for Traffic (i-ACT) started deploying personnel from the Philippine National Police’s Highway Patrol Group (HPG) today in EDSA from P. Tuazon to Connecticut/White Plains in Quezon City..
The deployment was approved by the i-ACT member agencies including the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).
Headed by PNP-HPG Director Chief Supt. Arnel Escobal, the said move aims to augment the existing MMDA traffic personnel in manning the traffic along EDSA from P. Tuazon to Connecticut/White Plains particularly at the onset of the Christmas season.
MMDA General Manager and concurrent DOTr Undersecretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure Tim Orbos said more than 20 HPG personnel were already deployed in the area, while 40 additional personnel were positioned in other identified chokepoints in EDSA.
“We have to make sure traffic is moving in EDSA,” Orbos stressed.
Meanwhile, DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade supports i-ACT’s move in their goal in easing the traffic situation along the major thoroughfare.
For his part, MMDA Chairman Danilo Lim welcomes the initiative of i-ACT. “We need all the help we can get to cushion the expected rise in vehicular volume this Christmas season.”
According to Orbos, who heads i-ACT, seamless coordination among the agencies is the key to the successful operations it conducted today, which yielded 54 apprehensions: 19 towed, 1 impounded for colorum, 9 no helmet, 17 illegal parking, 7 for number coding violation, and 1 for disregarding traffic sign.
i-ACT is an inter-agency body composed of DOTr, MMDA, PNP-HPG, Land Transportation Office (LTO), and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) tasked to address traffic congestion in the metropolis and other nearby areas like Rizal, Cavite, and Bulacan.